


this reticence (is becoming too much)

by anarchistslullaby



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Even though Angelina likes him back, Everybody Lives, F/M, Fred helps, Fred meddles, Fred realises that his twin has a crush on Angelina, George is too scared of rejection to do anything, He waits for it to pass, It Does Not, It has mixed results, Not Canon Compliant, obviously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26793871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anarchistslullaby/pseuds/anarchistslullaby
Summary: Angelina Johnson also joined the Gryffindor quidditch team in their second year a little before the Easter holidays. Fred had known of her from classes, and if his twin had blushed or suddenly gone quiet in her presence, he hadn’t noticed, at least at first. While George was the more observant of the two, Fred was fairly sharp eyed himself. It had never occurred to him that his brother developing a crush on their classmate and teammate was something that he needed to consider.Fred was somewhat embarrassed to admit that he had not realised the fact that his twin fancied Angelina until someone had literally said it in front of it, and even then, it had taken some time for him to process it.George and Angelina, through Fred's eyes.
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/George Weasley
Comments: 7
Kudos: 11





	this reticence (is becoming too much)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I know that canonically Fred dates Angelina, that feels far too strange to me, especially with George and Angelina ending up together. In my mind, Fred asked Angelina to the Yule Ball because he wanted George to act on his feelings. I also haven't read the books in a while, so there may be a few details that I've forgotten here or there, but oh well. I did, however, look up the part in Goblet of Fire where Fred asks Angelina to the Yule Ball and added it to this fic. I hope you like it.

When he and his twin started attending Hogwarts, Fred Weasley did not have many goals in mind. Joining the quidditch team and learning every bit of magic he could seemed ideal.  He and George both joined the Gryffindor quidditch team in their second year (a full year before Charlie did !) and being able to use magic was fun.  They made a new best friend called Lee Jordan and began experimenting with making joke items,  similar to the ones they bought at Zonko’s but better . Let it  be known that the Weasley twins had always been  highly entrepreneurial.

Angelina Johnson also joined the Gryffindor quidditch team in their second year a little before the Easter holidays .  Fred had known of her from classes, and if his twin had blushed or  suddenly gone quiet in her presence, he hadn’t noticed, at least at first . While George was the more observant of the two, Fred was  fairly sharp eyed himself.  It had never occurred to him that his brother developing a crush on their classmate and teammate was something that he needed to consider .

Fred was somewhat embarrassed to admit that he had not realised the fact that his twin fancied Angelina until someone had  literally said it in front of it, and even then, it had taken some time for him to process it .  By their third year at Hogwarts, Fred wasn’t oblivious anymore and had realised that something strange was afoot .  He had noticed that George was more distracted and seemed to  be preoccupied with something .  He has asked, but George had claimed that he had no idea what Fred was talking about, so Fred hadn’t interrogated him further .  He had had several theories in mind; the most probable seemed to be that George was developing a disease of some sort .  It didn’t seem to be doing anything to George’s magic or quidditch, until George had been looking at something during practice before their match with Ravenclaw and  been hit with an  easily avoidable bludger . A few minutes after practice, he heard Oliver tell George to pay more attention. 

‘Yeah, George!’ yelled Alicia, once Oliver was out of earshot. ‘Pay attention! Stop looking at Angelina!’

‘I’m Fred!’ George countered back.

Alicia laughed. ‘No, you’re not!’

Fred wondered what exactly Alicia had meant when she’d said that and how she’d been able to tell that George was George (after all, their mother sometimes had difficulty telling them apart) . Angelina hadn’t looked any different, so he wasn’t sure why George was even looking at her. 

He ended up forgetting in the midst of everything that was going on with the Philosopher's Stone, involving his younger brother of all people .  They also ended up losing the championship match to Ravenclaw, with Harry being unable to play . It had been a rather eventful end of the year, all things considered.

In their fourth year, Fred  was reminded of George and how he was behaving  strangely whenever Angelina  was mentioned . In early October, Lee Jordan told both of them how he’d asked Angelina out on a date, only to  be rebuffed by her. George had been  strangely silent throughout Lee’s spiel, and also looked glad? Did George have a crush on Angelina? Was that what Alicia had been talking about?

While it was true that George had been acting somewhat distant since they had returned to Hogwarts for their fourth year, Fred had assumed that George was ill or something .  Figuring out the possibility that his brother had a crush  was unexpected and if he was being completely honest, somewhat strange . 

After a series of letters with both his older brothers, Bill and Charlie, who were more experienced than he was in such matters (Percy didn’t count) .  They sounded  vaguely amused (which Fred ignored), but  nevertheless offered good advice, Fred accepted that his twin had a crush on their teammate (and classmate – she was almost everywhere they went) .  Charlie had not been as surprised as Fred (or surprised at all, in fact) that George had something as ordinary as a crush on someone and assured Fred that it was a  perfectly normal part of growing up . Both him and Bill had encouraged Fred to ask George about his crush and be supportive.  _Instead of, you know,_ Charlie had written, _merely_ _observing in silence_ .  Apparently , there was the likelihood that the crush would not  simply pass, as Fred had been hoping.  _Besides,_ Bill had written,  _Percy has a girlfriend too. Ginny told me. Don’t tell him I told you._

After watching George look in Angelina’s direction at least six times in ten minutes, one night in the Gryffindor common room, Fred had ( reluctantly ) broached the subject . 

‘Do you fancy Angelina, then?’ said Fred, catching George off his guard.

‘What?’ said George, looking around with a furious intensity to ensure that no one had been listening .  After realising that the common room was far too noisy and full of people who didn’t care what the two of them were doing, George turned back to his twin . ‘I don’t have a crush on anyone!’ 

‘All right,’ said Fred, confused, but George did not seem satisfied.

‘How do I know that you don’t have a crush on Angelina?’ demanded George, which made no sense at all. He told George as much.

‘You’re the one who brought up Angelina!’ said George very  defensively .

‘Because you keep becoming distracted by her!’ 

‘I don’t!’ 

This was going nowhere. Fred sighed and decided to  just change the subject back to the trick wand they were trying to develop. George was  obviously glad not to be talking about Angelina anymore. Fred hoped that the crush would pass soon.

He had most  certainly never had a crush on someone. Sure, he could tell when someone was attractive, but he most  certainly had never had a silly crush on anyone. It seemed like something unnecessary that he had no interest in partaking in. There were more important things, like magic and inventing and quidditch.

A few months later, George told Fred that there was a possibility that he had certain feelings (which, ugh, gross) for Angelina . 

‘So, what do you want to do?’ asked Fred.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You could tell her you like her,’ suggested Fred, hoping that his brother would be less distracted after he told her . Would they start dating at that point? He wasn’t sure how that would work with their inventing and quidditch.

‘No, I can’t!’ protested George. Fred had never seen him so flustered.

‘Why not?’ Fred had never seen George react to something like this.  You would think Fred had asked him to quit the Gryffindor quidditch team and train to become Trelawney’s apprentice .

‘She could reject me!’

Fred had no idea how to respond to that and wondered if he should have observed Angelina as well. So what if she told George she didn’t like him? He also wondered if he needed to talk to Percy, but later decided not to. Fred’s older brother would  probably demand to know how he found out and why he was asking.  Besides, Percy and Penelope Clearwater  probably bonded over their Potions homework or something and decided to date . That was  probably not how it worked for most, but it  probably did for Percy. 

George spent the rest of the school year pining in silence as he and Fred continued to work on their inventions, play quidditch and ( mostly ) attend their lessons .  Fred  periodically sent letters to Bill and Charlie, both of whom kept telling Fred to be patient with George and let him figure out things on his own pace .

After a thorough investigation of two weeks that took place during their classes, between quidditch practice and matches and in the Gryffindor common room, Fred had concluded that Angelina did not seem to be as interested in George, only  really paying attention to him when she needed to . Fred did not mention this, hoping that his twin’s infatuation would pass.  Fred  certainly forgot in the midst of Ginny’s disappearance and everything that preceded it .

In the midst of their developments in inventing, going to Egypt and making up for not paying enough attention to Ginny, Fred had forgotten all about George’s crush on their classmate .

As their fifth year commenced, it became evident to Fred that his twin’s infatuation had not passed.  Fred wasn’t particularly happy about this, because he and George needed to focus on developing their merchandise, which was hard enough with a mass ! murderer! on! the! loose! and on his way to Hogwarts, presumably to murder them all. The dementors were making it difficult to focus as well.  If Fred had been Percy, or someone that cared about such silly things, he would have conducted research on this, as McGonagall had suggested and  subsequently made him conduct during his two weeks of detention, when she became tired of Fred’s complaining (and was  fully aware that he was right and there was nothing anyone but the Ministry could do about it) .  Many years later,  however , the research Fred had  been forced to undertake, spending his detentions reading old and dusty books about dementors, ended up helping them develop their anti-dementor and sadness merchandise, so in hindsight, it hadn’t been so bad .

George was the same as ever when it came to his crush on Angelina, but one day, during Herbology class, Fred noticed that Angelina seemed to be acting  differently . She seemed to be glancing at his twin an awful lot, especially when she expected him to not be paying attention. Fred sighed and decided to leave the two of them to their own devices. There were things he understood, and this was not one of them. Even stranger, Percy and Penelope Clearwater were still together, somehow.

By the time sixth year commenced, Fred had had enough.  Even though he and George hadn’t managed to trick Dumbledore’s age line and  participate in the Triwizard Tournament and quidditch  was cancelled for the year, they were doing well in their in their inventing and were well on their way to opening their joke shop once they graduated (granted, they needed the funds to do so, but they had time) . The problem was George and his crush on Angelina, which was still as strong as ever. It was so obvious that most of Gryffindor and a  portion of people in other houses had become aware of it.  Angelina, Fred noticed, also seemed to still  be interested in George (her interest in George was less well known,  however ) . 

Even though quidditch  was cancelled for the year, they saw Angeline  fairly often due to the fact that she was their classmate and also in Gryffindor . Hopeful that it would go better than the last time, Fred decided to confront George again.

‘George, you need to get over her or ask her out,’ said Fred, on a chilly October night, both of them huddled in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, developing one of their trick wands .  It had somehow become stuck between a wand and a rubber duck, appearing in the shape of a wand, but yellow and made of rubber like the duck .

‘What if she says no?’ said George, who did not look happy that his twin had brought up the subject.

‘She won’t.’

‘You can’t know that! I’d have to quit the quidditch team!’

‘No, you won’t,’ said Fred,  utterly confused. ‘What are you talking about? What has this got to do with quidditch?’

There was a pause. Fred  was tired .  George was looking at him in a way that  clearly indicated that Fred did not understand his plight and was not being sympathetic enough . Fred had another idea. 

‘Angelina likes you too,’ he decided to say.  He had not missed that Angelina still seemed interested in George but was also as interested as George was about doing something about her crush on him . What a fine pair they would make.

‘Are you sure?’ asked George, sounding far too delighted.

‘Yes?’ said Fred. Did George not have eyes?  George wasn’t convinced, no matter what Fred seemed to say, so Fred decided to get back to what they were doing for the time being .

A few weeks later, after McGonagall informed them about the Yule Ball, Fred, tired of George  suddenly drifting off into space or becoming distracted whenever he saw Angelina, decided to do something about it .  George seemed to be completely content letting his crush fester and interrupt their inventing (they were making strides, but George was too distracted sometimes) .

‘You should ask Angelina to the Yule Ball,’ Fred told his twin.

‘No, I can’t!’ said George, stricken.

‘Why not?’

‘She’ll say no!’

Fred, who had been observing Angelina and George’s interactions for a while now, sighed. ‘I  highly doubt that. Besides, if you don’t ask her, someone else will.’

George couldn’t seem to find something to say to this.  Fred, knowing that Angelina liked his twin (which George always refused to believe, for some reason), decided to  employ a different tactic .

‘If you don’t ask her to the ball, I will.’

George looked at Fred  dubiously . ‘Come off it,’ he said,  obviously not believing him.

‘I’m being  entirely serious, Gred. Ask her in a week or I will.’  _As long as someone hadn’t already asked her before that, that is._

The conversation ended with Fred feeling that George didn’t believe him, but Fred was dead set on this. He was getting tired of his twin’s moping.

It had been a week since Fred had told George to ask Angelina to the Yule Ball, with no success so far.  As far as he knew (which meant that he knew everything), Angelina did not have a date yet, but that didn’t mean that there were plenty of people who had asked her or were planning on asking her .

‘I’m going to ask her right now if you don’t,’ Fred whispered to his twin, as the two of them approached their younger brother to ask to borrow Pigwidgeon .

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ hissed George.

‘Then do it now,’ countered Fred, as Ron’s tower of cards exploded.

‘So,’ said Fred to Ron, Harry and Hermione, a few minutes later.  ‘You lot got dates for the ball yet?’ George glared at Fred, both of them aware that Angelina was on the other side of the Gryffindor Common Room .

‘Nope,’ said Ron.

‘Well, you’d better hurry, mate, or all the good ones will be gone,’ said Fred, nudging George, giving him a look that said  _last chance_ . George decided to ignore him.

‘Who are you going with, then?’ said Ron.

‘Angelina,’ said Fred  promptly , without a hint of embarrassment. George was beginning to look murderous.

‘What?’ said Ron, taken aback. ‘You’ve already asked her?’

‘Good point,’ said Fred, glancing one last time at George, who seemed content to seep in misery. Fred sighed  inwardly , turned his head, and called across the common room. ‘Oi! Angelina!’

Angelina, who had been chatting to Alicia near the fire, looked over at him.

‘What?’ she said. Fred saw that George was sat down with his face in his hands, the wimp. It was a miracle that their little brother or his friends hadn’t noticed and said something.

‘Want to come to the ball with me?’

Angelina looked at him and George, who had it in him to take his head out of his hands but not much else, looking rather stricken . George had a similar look on his face.

‘All right, then,’ she said, still looking at George.

Unfortunately for Fred, who had expected George to interrupt him and ask Angelina himself (or you know, ask her before); George, who hadn’t expected his twin to ask Angelina at all, much less in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room; and Angelina, who  was interested in George and not Fred at all, things only became more complicated .  George was mopey the whole time leading to the Yule Ball, having said yes to a Durmstrang girl who had asked him not long after, and Angelina seemed  just as upset, which would have hurt Fred, except that his date liked his twin, so he couldn’t fault her for it . 

‘I know you like George, not me,’ Fred whispered to Angelina a few days before the Yule Ball, after their Charms class.  She had been avoiding him, he knew, but he figured that since he had created this mess (which George still hadn’t forgiven him for), it was up to him to do something about it

‘How did you know?’ asked Angelina, eyes widening.

Fred grimaced and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. ‘It’s  fairly obvious,’ he drawled.  ‘You and George aren’t very subtle, though you both seem  equally incompetent when it comes to acting on your crushes.’

Angelina’s eyes thinned. ‘Then why ask me?’ she said.

‘I was hoping it would give George the push to ask you,’ said Fred. ‘I never expected it to go this far.’

‘ _ Really _ ?’

‘Yes,  _ really _ .’

Angelina sighed. ‘This isn’t going anywhere,’ she said.  Fred  suddenly understood why she and George had never managed to do anything with themselves .  _And to think they’re Gryffindors._

Fred had a good time at the Yule Ball. It was hard not to, with The Weird Sisters.  He tried to ensure that Angelina had a good time as well (despite the fact that neither of them wanted to go together, Fred took his duties as Angelina’s date  seriously ), though it was evident that she didn’t want to be with him at all .  After that night, Fred resolved that he wasn’t going to help (or  _meddle_ , as George had put it) and would let the two of them figure things out on their own .

Things went by very  quickly after the Yule Ball.  The second and third tasks (which, for the latter, they completely upended the quidditch pitch), the death of Cedric and the return of Voldemort .  In addition , he and George were making strides with their joke products. They also turned 17 and passed their Apparition tests.  And the cherry on top, they managed to secure funding for their joke shop, courtesy of Harry Potter and his Triwizard winnings .

The next few years also went by  quickly . The Order of the Phoenix (which they weren’t allowed to become part of, despite being of age). Seventh Year. Umbridge. Angelina became quidditch captain, which had turned her into an absolute tyrant.  Fred had expected her lunacy, which was  apparently an inherited affliction from one quidditch captain to the next (had Charlie been like that ?  Fred couldn’t remember), to have cooled down George’s crush on her, but he seemed to find Angelina even more attractive for it, which was even more confusing, but Fred had bigger problems .  There was Dumbledore’s Army and the fact that they managed to complete their product development . Their planned departure from Hogwarts. Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes at Diagon Alley. Booming business. Joining the Order. Everything going as well as it could have, with Voldemort’s return. Dumbledore’s death. Snape was a traitor. Smuggling Harry out of Privet Drive. George losing his ear. Bill’s wedding. Ron, Harry and Hermione going after the horcruxes. Going into hiding. Order missions. Potterwatch. The Battle of Hogwarts (and  nearly dying during it). Winning the war. Healing, burying and rebuilding.

It had been  nearly three and a half years since the war had ended and Fred was feeling bored. Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes was doing  wonderfully , and all was well.  His mother had been bothering him about settling down (it was Percy’s fault,  really , for introducing his girlfriend to their mother), but if Fred had a habit of always listening to his mother, he would be  miserably working at the Ministry . 

Waking up on a Sunday morning, Fred realised that he did, in fact, have something he could busy himself with.  George had been acting  strangely as of late, always out to meet someone or with sudden errands that came up that he never cared to explain . Not that Fred expected him to explain himself; it was  just very  apparent that George had a secret. 

Instead of going about it  normally and  simply asking George what was going on with him, Fred did what felt right to him . He was going to follow his twin and catch him in the act. Fred wasn’t sure what exactly he was going to catch his twin in the act of, but oh well. (In case it wasn’t obvious, Fred had been feeling very bored, as of late).

Fred was about to get out of bed, when George popped into his bedroom, telling him that Bill had  just been by and brought their niece over .

‘He and Fleur had something to do,’ explained George, standing in Fred’s doorway, eating a piece of toast. ‘Said he was in a hurry and that he’d be back tonight to get Victoire. I told Bill you’d look after her.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ said Fred. He paused. ‘Wait, why can’t you look after her?’

‘I have to go somewhere,’ said George.  Fred realised that his brother was already dressed, and quite  nicely , in muggle clothing .

Fred raised an eyebrow. ‘You were the one who was complaining that we don’t see her  nearly enough.’

‘Yeah, but I didn’t expect Bill to  just bring her  all of a sudden, now, did I?’ said George  impatiently . ‘Anyway, I have to leave in five minutes. Victoire is at the table. I’ve made her breakfast.’

George rushed out as soon as Fred entered the kitchen, giving Victoire a kiss on her forehead and uttering a quick goodbye . 

‘Hi, Victoire,’ said Fred, getting himself an apple and munching on it. 

‘Hi!’ said Victoire, who had a plate of cut up French toast and blackberries in front of her. She was sitting in a highchair that George must have transfigured out of one of their chairs at the table. 

‘Today, after breakfast, I was going to follow your Uncle George and see what he’s up to,’ Fred told his niece, who looked at him with wide blue eyes . ‘That may be a bit difficult with you with me, but I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge. What do you say, Victoire?’

Fred’s niece, who wasn’t yet a year and a half old, could only speak a few words, so she  solemnly looked at her uncle and offered him a blackberry from her plate . Fred accepted the offering  graciously .

‘Delicious!’ said Fred,  loudly popping the blackberry into his mouth. Victoire giggled. ‘It's the best one I’ve had all year!’

Two hours later, Fred, wearing the most outlandish curly blonde moustache he could find, with his hair bright,  unruly and blue, and Victoire, in her pram that Fred had spelled into a different colour, were following George around London .  Fred and George had charms that allowed them to locate one another if there was any need, but they had only used it once or twice, so it seemed that George had completely forgotten about it .

George went in and out of a few muggle shops, making a small  purchase at a shop Fred did not recognise, before settling down outside in a cafe .  Fred and Victoire sat at one a few shops away and Fred had purchased them both rainbow cupcakes Victoire had  been excited by .  She wasn’t as concerned about what Fred’s twin was doing and was  gleefully demolishing the cupcake, with more of it going on her hands, face and clothes than inside her mouth .

They (well,  mostly Fred, but he liked to think of it as the two of them) watched as George waited for a few minutes, to  be greeted by a very familiar face . It was Angelina from school. The sneaky git. Could George have kept something like this from him?

Fred’s suspicions  were confirmed only seconds later, when his twin kissed Angelina and presented her with whatever he had bought in the shop .  The two of them sat down, ordered a much more  nutritionally enriching brunch than Fred and Victoire’s rainbow cupcakes (Fred was an uncle spoiling his only niece and Angelina was an athlete who was  probably on a strict diet) . The two of them talked and ate for a while. 

Victoire was starting to become fussy. Fred took her to the toilet and cleaned off the cupcake and frosting with a cleaning charm. By the time he  was done , George and Angelina were gone. Deciding he had done enough sleuthing (how did Ron do this for days on end as an auror?) and feeling rather bored, Fred took his niece to the park. They spent an hour there, Fred watching her play with other toddlers and pushing him on the swings.

The returned home an hour later, when it was nearing time for Victoire’s afternoon sleep. Fred put her down in his bed, closed the lights and went to his and George’s living room, where his twin and his (new?) girlfriend were waiting for him, both seated on the sofa.

‘Well, isn’t this a surprise,’ said Fred, as nonchalant as ever. In retrospect, the blue hair might have been a bit too noticeable.

George and Angelina glanced at one another. They had definitely been dating for a while, reasoned Fred.

‘We know you were following us,’ said George.

‘And?’ said Fred, grinning as if he hadn’t done anything wrong ever in his life of being a good boy who always listened to his mother and definitely would have never thought of getting his younger brother to make an Unbreakable Vow at the tender age of seven years old .

Angelina groaned. George sighed.

‘We’re dating,’ admitted George.

‘ _Finally_ _,_ ’ said Fred, settling down on the armchair, in front of the sofa.

‘So, how long has it been going on?’ he asked.

‘A while,’ said George, pursing his lips.

‘How long is a while?’ asked Fred.

‘We got together a few months after the war ended,’ said Angelina.

_That_ long ago? 

‘Why didn’t you tell anyone?’ asked Fred,  genuinely surprised. They had been dating for three years and no one seemed to have noticed.

‘We were going to,’ said George, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. ‘But everyone was busy with rebuilding after the war, and then we were reopening the shop. Then the quidditch leagues started and Fleur was pregnant, so it never seemed like an ideal time.’

‘George was going to tell you,’ said Angelina. ‘But then…’

‘Audrey?’ guessed Fred, remembering the fuss their mother had made over Percy’s new girlfriend, who most had believed was imaginary to get their mother to stop giving him so much grief over his love life .  She had been beside herself with joy and had proceeded to make an  unnaturally large fuss, as if Percy had also announced that they were marrying . The next day, she had proceeded to badger him, George and Charlie about their love lives.  She was still badgering them  constantly (Charlie was lucky, being in Romania) and to Percy about proposing to Audrey, even though the two of them had been together for less than a year . ‘Yeah, that’s understandable.’

‘And we don’t see one another often, since I’m never in one place for long because of quidditch,’ said Angelina. ‘So we never got around to it.’

Fred grinned. ‘You both will have to explain to our mother why you’ve been keeping it a secret for so long,’ he said. ‘And if I can tell you two have been together for a while, our dear mother will suss it out immediately.’

George paled. Angelina, noticing the look on her boyfriend’s face, looked at him in worry. ‘It can’t be that bad,’ she said. ‘Can it?’

‘Oh, worse than either of us could ever imagine,’ said George.

Fred didn’t feel sorry for them at all. He had worked so hard in school to get them together that it served them right to face the wrath of their mother. That, and she was going to start badgering him even more. Oh well.  Fred left the not-at-all new couple to figure out a way to untangle themselves from the mess they were in themselves and went to have a hot bath before Victoire woke up .

**Author's Note:**

> All kudos and feedback is appreciated. Find me on tumblr with the same username; https://anarchistslullaby.tumblr.com/


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